Over the past two decades, a number of historians, most notably Professor Nudie Williams, have made valuable contributions toward our understanding of the African-American experience in the Southwest While Professor Williams critically important work has focused primarily on the role of the African-American press in the building of local communities and their influence, in turn on regional development, the following article will seek to analyze the unique patterns of the local black press and its role as an advocate racial pride, cultural development, and educational reform. This study begins with 1892 as that was the beginning date for publication of the Oklahoma Guide and ends with 1955, as the latter marks the retirement date of Roscoe Dungee, Oklahoma's pre-eminent African American editor. This six decades period also marks the rise and fall of legal segregation in Oklahoma.